Ocean's 8
| screenplay = | story = Gary Ross | based on = | starring = | music = Daniel Pemberton | cinematography = Eigil Bryld | editing = Juliette Welfling | production companies = * Village Roadshow Pictures * Smoke House Pictures * Larger Than Life Productions }} | distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures | released = | runtime = 110 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $70 million | gross = $297.7 million }} Ocean's 8 (stylized onscreen as Ocean's Eight) is a 2018 American heist comedy film directed by Gary Ross and written by Ross and Olivia Milch. The film is both a continuation and a spin-off from Steven Soderbergh's ''Ocean's'' trilogy and features an ensemble cast, including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, and Awkwafina. The film follows a group of women led by Debbie Ocean, the sister of Danny Ocean, who plan a sophisticated heist of the annual Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, United States. After the release of Ocean's Thirteen in 2007, Soderbergh stated he had no intentions of making a fourth film, citing his desire to have the series "go out on top". However, an all-female spin-off was announced in October 2015, with much of the cast signing on by August 2016. Filming took place from October 2016 to March 2017 around New York City. Ocean's 8 premiered at Alice Tully Hall on June 5, 2018, and was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on June 8, 2018, 11 years to the day of the release of Ocean's Thirteen. The film has grossed over $297 million worldwide and received a lukewarm critical response, with praise for the performances of the cast (particularly Bullock, Blanchett, and Hathaway), but criticism for the storyline. Plot Following her release from prison, Debbie Ocean, younger sister of the "late" Danny Ocean, meets with her former partner-in-crime Lou to convince her to join a heist that she planned while serving her sentence. Debbie and Lou assemble the rest of their team: Rose Weil, a disgraced fashion designer who is deeply in debt with the IRS; Amita, a jewelry maker and friend of Debbie's who is eager to move out of her mother's house and start her own life; Nine Ball, a computer hacker; Constance, a street hustler and pickpocket; and Tammy, a profiteer and another friend of Debbie's who fences stolen goods out of her family's suburban home. Debbie plans to steal the Toussaint, a $150 million Cartier necklace, from the Met Gala in three-and-a-half weeks, and use Met Gala co-host Daphne Kluger, a famous actress known for her long neck, as an unwitting mule who will wear the necklace into the gala. The team manipulates Daphne into choosing Weil as her stylist, and Weil and Amita go to Cartier to convince them to let Daphne wear the Toussaint. They also surreptitiously digitally scan the necklace in order to manufacture a cubic zirconia duplicate. Debbie seeks out Claude Becker, an art dealer who ratted her out to the police when they were discovered for art fraud, which led to her arrest and imprisonment. Debbie manipulates Daphne to invite Becker as her date to the gala. Lou realizes that Debbie is out for revenge on Becker, but Debbie reassures her that everything will be fine. Weil discovers a flaw in the plan: The Toussaint can only be unclasped using a special magnet carried by the bodyguards hired by Cartier. Nine Ball enlists her younger sister, Veronica, to build a similar magnet in time for the gala. As the gala begins, Daphne consumes soup that Lou spiked, causing her to vomit in the restroom, where Constance takes the necklace. When the necklace is discovered to be missing, the museum is evacuated and searched; Tammy "finds" the duplicate necklace in order to end the search before Amita, who has retrieved the real necklace and is disassembling it, is discovered in the kitchen restroom. Amita retools the Toussaint into several pieces of jewelry, and gives them to Constance to slip to the members of the team. Debbie plants one of the parts of the necklace on Becker. Soon after the gala the necklace is returned to Cartier and identified as a fake. John Frazier, an insurance fraud investigator, arrives to investigate. Frazier, who has a history with the Ocean family, notices Debbie's presence at the gala and suspects her involvement in the heist, although he is unable to find any evidence against her. Debbie assures Frazier that she does not know where the necklace is, but she may know where part of it is. Daphne is revealed to have been in on the plan, tipped off by Weil's bad acting, and Debbie and Lou invited her in to keep her from turning them in. Daphne visits Becker for a romantic evening, and she finds the diamonds planted on him by Debbie during the gala. She sends a picture to Frazier so that he can obtain an arrest warrant, and Becker is arrested for stealing the necklace. To further frame Becker, Debbie hires actresses disguised as elderly socialites to sell pieces of the necklace and deposit the money into an account in Becker's name. As the eight celebrate their victory, Daphne asks Debbie and Lou how all the shares could be paid from the lesser amount made from the sale of separate parts of the necklace. Lou reveals that while the gala was being evacuated, Lou and "The Amazing" Yen were stealing some of the Royal jewels on display during the Gala, which makes their cuts higher than expected. Each member of the team goes her separate way with her money: Amita goes to Paris with a man she met on Tinder; Weil pays off her debts and opens her own store; Constance buys a spacious loft in the city and becomes a YouTuber; Tammy expands her business in selling stolen goods; Nine Ball opens a pool bar; Daphne becomes a director; Lou goes on a cross-country road trip; and Debbie returns to Danny's grave to raise a toast to him with a martini in his honor. Cast * Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean, a professional thief and Danny Ocean's sister. * Cate Blanchett as Lou Miller, Debbie's partner-in-crime and night club owner. * Anne Hathaway as Daphne Kluger, a famous actress. * Mindy Kaling as Amita, a jewelry maker. * Sarah Paulson as Tammy, a suburban mom and fence. * Awkwafina as Constance, a loudmouthed street hustler and pickpocket. * Rihanna as Nine Ball/Leslie, a talented hacker. * Helena Bonham Carter as Rose Weil, a ditzy, disgraced fashion designer. * Richard Armitage as Claude Becker, an art dealer who framed Debbie for a crime he instigated. * James Corden as John Frazier, an insurance fraud investigator. Additionally, Dakota Fanning appears as Penelope Stern, a celebrity who Kluger is jealous of, and Nathanya Alexander appears as Veronica, Nine Ball's younger sister. Elliott Gould and Qin Shaobo reprise their roles from the previous films as Reuben Tishkoff and "The Amazing" Yen, respectively. Matt Damon and Carl Reiner were also set to reprise their respective characters Linus Caldwell and Saul Bloom, but their scenes were cut. Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley appear as elderly actresses who help the crew shift their stolen gems. Celebrities who cameo as themselves in the film include Anna Wintour, Zayn Malik, Katie Holmes, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian, Common, Adriana Lima, Desiigner, Kylie Jenner, Alexander Wang, Nina Cuso, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Lily Aldridge, Olivia Munn, Jaime King, Zac Posen, Hailey Baldwin, Derek Blasberg, Sofia Richie, Heidi Klum, Kelly Rohrbach, and Lauren Santo Domingo. Production After the release of Ocean's Thirteen, Steven Soderbergh stated that there would not be an Ocean's Fourteen, noting that George Clooney wanted "to go out strong" with the third film. In December 2008, Soderbergh again said that a fourth film in the franchise was unlikely, this time citing the recent death of Bernie Mac, who had appeared in the earlier films. However, a female focused spin-off starring Sandra Bullock was in development as of October 2015. Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, and Elizabeth Banks were later announced to star in the film, though Banks' presence turned out to be a rumor that did not materialize. In August 2016, Bullock, Blanchett, Bonham Carter and Kaling were confirmed to star, with Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Awkwafina, and Sarah Paulson closing deals to fill the cast. During production on the film, Dakota Fanning and Damian Lewis were spotted on set, with Lewis's casting being confirmed in December 2016 and Fanning confirming her casting in March 2017. However, Lewis does not appear in the finished film. On November 11, 2016, Richard Robichaux was also cast in the film. That same month, Matt Damon stated he would appear in the film, reprising his role from the Ocean's Trilogy; however, his scene was not included in the finished film. In January 2017, James Corden joined the cast as an insurance broker who begins to grow suspicious of the group. That same month, it was revealed Anna Wintour, Alexander Wang, Zac Posen, Derek Blasberg, Lauren Santo Domingo, Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Katie Holmes, Olivia Munn, Hailey Baldwin and Zayn Malik were announced to cameo in the film. That same month, Richard Armitage joined the cast of the film. Principal photography on the film began on October 25, 2016, in New York City. In March 2017, Blanchett said production had officially been completed. On May 5, 2017, it was announced that filming would continue on Staten Island at the former Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, which Broadway Stages was in the process of acquiring after an initial rejection. Box office After premiering at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on June 5, 2018, Ocean's 8 was released by Warner Bros. to theaters in North America on June 8. Ocean's 8 grossed $140.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $157.5 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $297.7 million, against a production budget of $70 million. In the United States and Canada, Ocean's 8 was released alongside Hotel Artemis and Hereditary, and was projected to gross around $45 million from 4,145 theaters in its opening weekend, although some tracking firms had it debuting with as low as $30 million. Deadline Hollywood noted that it was tracking on-par with the 2016 all-female ''Ghostbusters'' reboot (which opened to $46 million), and had more interest from audiences than the likes of fellow female-led comedies The Heat ($39.1 million debut), Spy ($29.1 million) and Girls Trip ($31.2 million). The film made $4 million from Thursday night previews, including $100,000 from additional early screenings Wednesday night, and $15.8 million on its first day (including previews). It went on to debut to $41.6 million, the highest of the franchise, not factoring in inflation; 69% of its audience was female. In its second weekend the film made $19 million, finishing second behind newcomer Incredibles 2. In its third weekend the film earned $11.7 million, finishing third behind Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Incredibles 2. Overseas the film was released in 16 countries alongside the United States and made $12.2 million in its opening weekend. Its largest markets were Australia ($4.7 million), Mexico ($2.6 million) and Brazil ($1.7 million). By its third week of release (where it made $26.9 million), the film had an international total of $70.9 million. Its largest markets were United Kingdom ($14 million), Australia ($13.6 million), Japan ($11.7 million), South Korea ($10.8 million), Germany ($7.4 million), Mexico ($6.3 million), and Brazil ($5.6 million). Home media Ocean's 8 was first released on Digital HD on August 21, 2018. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment then released the film on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD Combo Pack on September 11, 2018. The film debuted at the top of the NPD VideoScan First Alert chart for the week ending on September 15, 2018. Critical reception According to several media outlets, Ocean's 8 received a generally lukewarm response from critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 277 reviews, and an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Ocean's 8 isn't quite as smooth as its predecessors, but still has enough cast chemistry and flair to enjoyably lift the price of a ticket from filmgoers up for an undemanding caper." At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on reviews from 50 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". According to BBC News, while critical reviews of the film were "broadly positive", "most had some reservations". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same score earned by Ocean's Eleven and Thirteen. Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and praised the cast, saying, "Ocean's 8 is a heist caper that looks gorgeous, keeps the twists coming and bounces along on a comic rhythm that's impossible to resist. What more do you want in summer escapism?" Alonso Duralde of TheWrap called the film "slick, charming and funny," though added it never quite kicks into high gear" and said, "Cinematographer Eigil Bryld gives the proceedings the high-gloss of a SkyMall catalog, which is appropriate for a movie about robbing a legendary Cartier necklace at fashion's most exclusive event...And between the sheen and the talented performers, Ocean's 8 does eventually coast on froth and good will." Variety s Owen Gleiberman said it is "clever enough to get by" and wrote "Ocean's 8 is a casually winning heist movie, no more and no less, but like countless films devoted to the exploits of cool male criminals, it lingers most...as a proudly scurrilous gallery of role models." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2 out of 4 stars and said, "Some movies are more about parallel play than actual playground interaction, and despite a screenful of terrifically skillful talents, Ocean's 8 never quite gets its ensemble act together. It's smooth, and far from inept. But it isn't much fun. That's all you want from a certain kind of heist picture, isn't it? Fun?" Response from actors Kaling and Blanchett attributed the lukewarm reception to the dominance of male critics and a lack of diversity among mainstream film reviewers. In an interview with Yahoo! Movies, Kaling cited actress Meryl Streep's criticism of Rotten Tomatoes and said, "There is obviously an audience out there who want to watch things like [Ocean's 8], what I work on, what Sarah Paulson works on ... I think white men, critics would enjoy movie, would enjoy my work, but often I think there is a critic who will damn it in a way because they don't understand it, because they come at it at a different point of view, and they're so powerful, Rotten Tomatoes." Several film journalists strongly disagreed with claims that the reception had been dictated by the gender and ethnicity of the critics. Guy Lodge, a chief film critic for Variety, highlighted the fact that several female reviewers, including Emily Yoshida from Vulture and Time magazine's Stephanie Zacharek, concurred with the general lukewarm response. Justin Chang, an Asian-American critic for the Los Angeles Times, argued that film criticism needed increased diversity, but "We negate the possibility of sympathetic imagination when we assume that someone’s particular affinity for a work of art will be dictated in advance by specifics of race, gender and age." He instead argued that the benefits would be a broader pool of talent and perspectives. Donald Clarke from The Irish Times pointed out that film had received a "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a better score than Ocean's Twelve. Accolades References External links * * * * Category:2018 films Category:2010s crime thriller films Category:2010s criminal comedy films Category:2010s heist films Category:American comedy thriller films Category:American crime thriller films Category:American criminal comedy films Category:American films Category:American heist films Category:Feminist films Category:Films about revenge Category:Film spin-offs Category:Films directed by Gary Ross Category:Films produced by Steven Soderbergh Category:Films shot in New York City Category:Films set in 2008 Category:Films set in 2018 Category:Films set in Manhattan Category:Films set in New Jersey Category:Films set in museums Category:Ocean's Eleven Category:Smoke House Pictures films Category:Village Roadshow Pictures films Category:Warner Bros. films Category:Films based on works by George Clayton Johnson